I am going to go out on a limb here and say that bran is probably high in important vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. And without really checking, …

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that bran is probably high in important vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. And without really checking, I’m going to say it has loads of fiber too. Jam-packed with the stuff that matters.

The same goes for your blog. You want to make sure that it’s got as much of “the good stuff” as possible.

The reason people come to your blog is because you provide them with some sort of benefit – usually information and expertise, and freely too.

If your blog has been around a while and still hasn’t started seeing any increase in visitors, you might not be hitting your readers with enough impact to make them want to stick around or keep coming back.

As Sally Hogshead emphasized at The Art of Marketing conference we attended, since the attention span of the average person is just 9 seconds – the same as a goldfish – it is vital that we find a way to fascinate our audience. Stanford Smith wrote an excellent post about his take from Sally’s book ‘Fascinate‘.

Are you making sure that you are catching the attention of your audience (your blog readers) right off the bat and motivating them to keep on reading?

So what is “the good stuff”? Now would be a good time to take another look at your content.

Let me break it down for you:

Content That…

Great headlines work. The best way to grab the attention of passersby on your blog is with a good blog post title.

It’s the first thing they’re going to see about your post. It’s likely going to be what helps them choose between ‘Do I stay and read?’ or ‘Do I go somewhere else?’. Make your post title count.

Content That…

So you’ve got their attention. Now what? You want them to stay a while. This is where the meat-and-potatoes of your content becomes completely vital.

You’ve hooked them in. They are eager to read more. Make sure that your promise of good content (which, by the way, promising is exactly what you’ve done when you caught their eye) doesn’t fall short of their expectation.

You’re not expected to write a masterpiece each time. You’re not going to change the world with your blog post. But, if you can continue to provide value in your blog posts, you’ll continue to have a captive audience.

Don’t think what you’ve got to write about is attention-grabbing, captivating, or motivating? Remember, it’s not always what you say but how you say it. Review our suggested tips from the first post in this series for tips on injecting personality and life into your blog posts. It makes a difference, I promise you.

I strongly encourage you all to click-through to the Read This links I’ve suggested. The people writing those tips and suggestions are blog geniuses and know their stuff. I have learned (and continue to learn) so much from reading what they write.

What a fun and useful post. Even though I’ve vowed to never eat bran…ever. But you are right that a blog needs to be able to “stick” in the mind of the reader to have a chance. Grabs, Captivates, and Motivates – good stuff.